Latent within you is God-given grace and gift that needs to become patent, that is manifest, so that you can enrich the society in which you live and serve. God gives in abundance in seed that has to break out and grow so that it can minister on a greater front bringing answer to others in their need. So spend time with God, discovering who you are and what he has blessed you with. Be encourage to release His potential in you to this day and generation.

WISE WORDS

“The man who knows right from wrong and has good judgment and common sense is happier than the man who is immensely rich” – Proverbs 3: 13 Living Bible

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Thought for the Day follows an instructive theme for everyday of the Week. A good word in Christian thought and experience is ‘possibility’ and this refers primarily to the knowledge and understanding that God seeks to impart to those who have a daily dynamic accord with Him. Those who really know and relate to God believe in His supreme power, that He can do anything. God the Father desires that His offspring through Christ will know how to perform in similar fashion.

GOD WORKED THE IMPOSSIBLE FOR MOSES – Exodus 3

Moses must have thought he had missed it completely when he was eighty years of age. He had known a magnificent start being reared as a monarch in the courts of Pharaoh. Then he espoused the cause of his true people, Israel, and found himself in real difficulty. He comes to the point where he is a lowly shepherd looking after a lowly flock of sheep in the desert. What a let down after having such high hopes of action and destiny!

But he was to discover God could meet him in such a state and age and being to perform extraordinarily. It all started with God setting a bush on fire and keeping it alight and burning and was not consumed. He captured the interest, heart and commitment of Moses and brought him under divine commission with extraordinary powers. What he couldn’t do 40 years previously is supernaturally wrought and he sees God working in incredible ways like no other. What had been a problem was more than answered by the acts of the Almighty. He showed that all things were possible even when failure had been sadly experienced.

It became a new day and beginning for Moses. Instead of looking after a flock of sheep He is to lead Israel, God’s people into history and destiny. It does seem that God allows those whom He would use mightily to taste obscurity where they feel worthless and helpless before promoting them into an important role. Be ready, it could be your moment when He shows himself and His great plan for your life. The God of the impossible is still in business!

A GOOD QUOTE – ROMANCE

Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists… When we are parted, we each feel the lack of the other half of ourselves. We are incomplete like a book in two volumes of which the first has been lost. That is what I imagine love to be: incompleteness in absence – Edmond de Goncourt

DAILY MEDITATIONS

THE REAL PROBLEM: SIN – Isaiah 59

It has to be said that the underlying problem with man in life is that of sin. Here the Lord spells it out clearly for His people. The awful factor that had ever been their possession and expression was that of the rule of evil in their beings and doings. Throughout the whole chapter He highlights all the sins that were being enacted by them and making it obvious how corrupt they were through the presence of this malignant force. It would seem that no one could claim exemption from its domination. All were victims and under its rule.

It had created a greater problem: the fact that sin separated them from God and thus withheld all the good that God wanted to be and do for them. In v2 “Because of your sin, He has turned away and will not listen any more.” It wasn’t a case of God suffering from deafness or paralysis, but their evil practices had tied his hands and put an obstacle in the way of hearing and hearkening to their prayers. No, He wasn’t in a state of paralysis where He was unable to perform the impossible. They had put Him in a situation where He could not make any response to their needs.

If you are not seeing God at work in your life and affairs, as you should, it may be that there is the fact of the sin-problem in your situation. The teaching of Christ is emphatic: Christians should know what it is to have divine answer to prayer. He said: “If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you” – John 15:7. When the lines of communication are clear it is possible to get both the ear and hand of God at all times. Always keep your lines open!

FURTHER NOTES FROM THE MINOR PROPHETS

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A CROWNING MOMENT

Zechariah 6

It is good to read of the word of knowledge and word of wisdom being operated in the Old Testament through the ministry of this prophet. God reveals to him what is to happen and then what to do in the proceedings. Three representative men will come from the exiles in Babylon with gifts of silver and gold and he is then informed as to what should be done with this generous and gracious bestowment. He was to see that it was made as a crown for the high priest to wear within the new Temple. It will be seen to be a crowning moment both for Joshua and these people.

1/. THE ORIGIN OF THE GIFT – vv8,9

It was a very thoughtful and kind thing for the exiles to do, to send this gift along thus showing their oneness with the building of the divine sanctuary. They desired to be an integral and spiritual part with the enterprise that had and was taking place and this must have served as an encouragement to all. It showed what was being done was in accord with Jehovah their God. They had been inspired to express an affinity with the purpose of making a home for their God and indicated where their hearts were.

2/. THE ORDER OF THE GIFT – v11

The Lord was certainly impressed by this token and felt that it should be used for something of note. He ordered that it should be made into a crown to be placed on the head of Joshua. It was not to be wasted but used as something of worth and permanence. It was to hold a situation of relevance within the divine sanctuary.

3/. THE OBJECT OF THE GIFT – vv12-14

It can be seen to be two-fold: a recognition of the one who was to be crowned and of his service and of the people who had been moved to send this loving donation from Babylon. Joshua was to be rewarded for the role he had fulfilled and this would signify his divine authority to rule by God amongst His people in a mediatorial capacity. He had power with God and with men. The power was to be used in erecting both the natural and spiritual edifice. As the exiles saw how the gift was used they would know the Lord was appreciating them and the gift.

4/. THE OUTCOME OF THE GIFT- v15

Because of the inspired rule and work of Joshua in leading the people Godward, to build His House and honour His Word, there would be the inevitable outcome. God and His sanctuary would get renown as people would come and aid in the building of the Temple and thus show their respect and reverence of the Lord. The interest will only increase and the sanctuary would be a means of drawing and binding God’s people together again. Another outcome would be the confirmation of the prophetic work of Zechariah. All had come to pass.